Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy Flat Top

I too bought this as a couch guitar while working from home during COVID. I have several >$1000 guitars but wanted one I could leave out or take with me and not have to worry about. It required a bit of set up out of the box but now I have a hard time putting it down:

Neck: I tightened the truss rod a bit with the included tool to reduce some bowing/lower the action

Frets: The frets felt a bit coarse when the strings rubbed against them. I took some super fine sandpaper and fine steel wool and polished up the frets to clean them/smooth them out.

Saddle: I ordered a replacement bone saddle (Blisstime 2 Sets 4pcs 6 String Acoustic Guitar Bone Bridge Saddle and Nut Made of Real Bone: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00USQY0CK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , ~$9) and sanded it down to lower the action to where I like it.

Strings: I always put flat wound strings on small body guitars … they really mellow out the tone. I prefer D’Addario Electric Guitar Chromes Flat Wound Jazz Lite, .011 – .050, ECG24 ($14)

So for an extra $25 and a little bit of time (never a bad thing to spend some time getting to know your new guitar) I’ve got a $160 guitar that’s a joy to play and I don’t have to stress about keeping it safe.